Page 101 of Knox
Warmth spread through Adrian at Leon’s words. Some mysteries remained unsolved, but this might still be the best day of his life, and for the moment, he only wanted to bask in the joy of being with all the people who mattered to him. All the peoplehemattered to.
Zev, returned from the hospital, clapped Knox’s shoulder. "Good to have you back."
Knox looked at his friend and nodded. "I didn’t remain in Veridia for long, but we know now there is a way to go back there." He paused, considering both Lyrian and Zev in turn. "Iwon’t ask you to stay in this world with me if you’d rather go home."
Lyrian seemed to take offense at that. "As if I’d leave now after all we’ve been through! Besides, I can’t resist a good puzzle."
"What puzzle?" Daniel asked. He’d been oddly quiet since his rescue, to a degree that Adrian was almost surprised to hear him speak up.
"We’re not sure who opened the portals," Knox explained. "But we know it wasn’t Caelen."
The room fell silent as Zev, Daniel and Leon processed that news. Adrian felt a knot of unease tighten in his stomach. Was there still a bigger villain to defeat? Who had the power to rip holes in the fabric of reality? And why had they done it?
"We’ll figure it out," Knox said. "And then we’ll stop them."
Adrian drew strength from Knox’s confidence. Surely, there wasn’t anything they couldn’t do.
"Just one thing," Zev said. "I don’t want to insult our host, but this place is getting a little small for all of us."
That was certainly true. Adrian couldn’t expect his grandmother to put them all up indefinitely.
"Well," Leon said as if he had anticipated this issue, "I went ahead and rented an Airbnb for myself, but it’s big enough for all of us."
Adrian blinked, momentarily thrown off balance by Leon’s words. "You rented a place?"
Leon nodded. "I figured it might be good for all of us to stick together until everything is resolved."
"But that must be expensive!"
Leon waved him off with a dismissive hand. "Don’t worry about money," he said casually. "I’ve got it covered."
Adrian stared at him, speechless. When he thought about it, he wasn’t even sure what Leon did for a living, but whatever it was, his job must be making him a lot of money for him to be talking like that.
"Really," Leon said. "Don’t worry about it. Just pack a few things and let’s go have a look."
The Airbnb was a charming two-story house nestled in a quiet neighborhood. A far cry from Evelyn’s apartment, Adrian noted as they stepped through the front door. The interior was spacious and the large windows let in a lot of natural light, making the living room feel warm and inviting.
A plush sofa in a deep shade of sapphire blue sat against one wall, next to a tall bookshelf stacked with paperbacks that looked as if they had been read many times.
Leon leaned against his cane, a satisfied smile curving his lips. "I think we’ll be comfortable here."
"Thank you, Leon," Adrian said. "Really."
Leon shrugged, but the pleased glint in his eyes betrayed his nonchalance. "I’m just glad I could finally do something good with my money."
Zev’s eyes roamed the room, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. "What is that?" he asked, pointing to a rectangular device mounted on the wall.
Adrian followed his gaze. "That’s a thermostat," he explained. "It controls the temperature in the house."
Zev’s brow furrowed. "Weather magic? The weather gods usually require a sacrifice. Do we need a goat? Or would a squirrel do? I saw one climbing a tree outside."
"The AC gods don’t require a sacrifice" Adrian assured him. "There’s a sensor inside that measures the temperature. And then it sends a signal to the heating or cooling system to adjust accordingly."
Zev stared at the thermostat. He didn’t seem quite convinced.
Adrian resolved to keep an eye on the squirrel population.
Leon clapped his hands together. "Well," he said, "why don’t we all pick out a room?"
